About

About

Dr. Patricia M. Virella is an Assistant Professor of Urban Educational Leadership at Montclair State University. Additionally, Dr. Virella is the Founder of My Academic Writing Routine, an organization committed to demystifying academic writing for grad students, focusing on graduate students of color.

Academic Background

Dr. Virella received her B.S. in Business Administration from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. Dr. Virella received her M.S. Ed. in Early and Childhood education from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. She has received an M.S. Ed. in Urban Education Leadership from Bank Street College in New York, NY. Dr. Virella completed her doctoral studies in Learning, Leadership, and Policy from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.

Teaching Background

Dr. Virella currently teaches graduate courses in the field of urban educational leadership in the P-12 setting. Her experiences span the range of K-12 and higher education. From 2015 – 2020 Dr. Virella instructed graduate courses at Sarah Lawrence College’s Art of Teaching Program.

Dr. Virella began her teaching career in the Bronx, NY as a 2nd-grade teacher, later teaching 5th-grade English Language Arts in Mount Vernon, NY. Dr. Virella became a Director of Curriculum and Assessment at a school in Harlem, NY. She later moved to a school in the Bronx, NY becoming a Director of Curriculum and Instruction. After her tenure as a Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Virella became an elementary school principal for an all-girls charter school in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY.

Research Background

Dr. Virella has published in several refereed journals such as The Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, The Journal of School Leadership, and Centro Journal, to name a few. She has written several book chapters on educational leadership through a variety of lenses. She has received small grants from the American Educational Research Association SIG: Social Justice Leadership and the Foster-Polite Scholarship. She is a former UCEA Jackson Scholar and David L. Clark Seminar Scholar. Additionally, Dr. Virella is the recipient of the Carnegie Course Release Scholarship from Sarah Lawrence College in 2020.
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